Rate My Professor Jennifer Hines

Jennifer Hines is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Ohio University, specializing in Chemistry. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include structural and chemical biology, molecular biology, and RNA-targeted medicinal chemistry. In the Hines Research Lab, she leads an interdisciplinary effort to develop small-molecule agents that target RNA structures, aiming to create therapeutics for bacterial and viral infections, cancer, and metabolic diseases. Her group uses techniques such as fluorescence anisotropy, electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and ligand design to study RNA-ligand interactions, particularly in riboswitches like the T-box antiterminator.

The lab has produced impactful discoveries, including a new class of medicinal compounds that bind RNA and disrupt its function, published in 2023. In 2021, her team detailed how RNA sequence and ligands alter the SARS-CoV-2 stem loop II motif conformation, identifying a potential antiviral target. Key publications encompass Aldhumani et al., RNA sequence and ligand binding alter conformational profile of SARS-CoV-2 stem loop II motif, Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (2021); Shriwas et al., A small-molecule pan-class I glucose transporter inhibitor reduces cancer cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo by targeting glucose-based metabolism, Cancer & Metabolism (2021); Armstrong et al., RNA Drug discovery: Conformational restriction enhances specific modulation of the T-Box riboswitch function, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry (2020); Ghazanfari et al., A novel GSK-3 inhibitor binds to GSK-3β via a reversible, time and Cys-199-dependent mechanism, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry (2021); Liu et al., Identification of spermidine binding site in T-box riboswitch antiterminator RNA, Chemical Biology & Drug Design (2016); and numerous studies on T-box RNA stability, oxazolidinone and triazole ligands (2008-2015). Hines received a Baker Fund Award of $12,000 in 2017 and an NIH grant of $430,000 in 2019 with Stephen Bergmeier for RNA-targeted antibacterial agents.